Jeff Wisnia wrote:
dpb wrote:
terry wrote:
...

If a splce, to be buried, is attempted at all, soldered wires and gel
filled heat shrink tubing over each wire and then additional double
layers over the entire splice could be attempted and might last a
while?


The made-for-purpose underground filled wire nuts do just fine--I've a
several-year (at least four, possibly as much as 5 or maybe even 6???
--daxx I can't recall much any more ) repair of the 240V feed to
the well pump.

I've come across repairs Dad (or maybe even Grandpa) made that have to
be a minimum of 30 or so that were still fine w/ nothing but twisted
connections covered w/ friction tape and then vinyl tape.

I don't disbelieve that, but why did they use friction tape UNDER vinyl
tape? The original purpose of friction tape was to protect the old
stretchable rubber tape used on such splices from abrasion. Hence its name.
....

You'd have had to ask Dad why--at least partly "because Grandpa did it
that way" undoubtedly would have been a factor no doubt....

My best guess would be it was one of two reasons (altho this is purely
conjecture based on what I know of how Dad tended to think and work)...

First guess would be the idea would be the friction tape would still
serve the purpose of making sure the wire didn't cut the tape...

Second would be these were in a time when I suspect the vinyl tape was
still a new idea so it wasn't yet a comfortable thought to give it up
entirely.

In fact, a couple of these were bound to have been the original when the
lines were first laid which would go back to the early 50s -- I
uncovered them when repairing a water line leak in the same trench, not
because the wiring had a problem.

We got REC power in '48 and then is when the original wiring to the
outbuildings other than a single lighting circuit to the barn from
before when were still on the Delco system. It didn't have enough
capacity for more than the house(s) and the lights in the barn.

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